Let’s not beat around the bush: identity theft is scary, and if you aren’t worried about it, you are nave. Even if you’ve taken precautions, you should still be concerned. To put as bluntly as possible, identity theft can ruin you, your finances, your career and your marriage. Here is a list of things you should do at a minimum to help protect your identity.

Possible the first thing and easiest to do is to make sure that all household phone numbers are on the national Do Not Call Registry. This is a service that the government provides to keep telemarketers from calling you. Although it has the ability to keep you from getting those annoying sales calls, it also gives you the ability to know that if you do get a supposed “sales call”, you know it’s likely not a legitimate call.

Second, check your credit report at least once a year. This can be done through a variety of ways, but do not go for those ‘free credit report’ scams where you have to sign up for a service in order to view your credit report. You can get your credit report for free once a year without signing up for anything. To get your no-strings-attached report, visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com. You absolutely MUST check your credit at least once per year. You must also make sure that you report any problems to get them corrected. If you are really worried about keeping your credit report completely safe, don’t pay for a monthly service to protect your credit until you understand what you are paying for. Most of the things a credit protection service charges you for, you can do yourself. For more information, see the resources at the end of this article.

Avoid giving to charities you aren’t familiar with, and if you are interested in giving to a new charity, check them out with the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance at www.give.org. Scam charities are more common than you might think, and some are sophisticated with call centers, web sites and professional presentations.

Be aware what ‘phishing’ is online and also how it’s now being done with text messages. This all falls under the concept of ’social engineering’ and it’s the most insidious and unfortunately, effective tools that identity thieves have to steal financial information and use it to wipe out your bank account. It’s a deep subject which can’t be covered in one article, so if you need more information, check out the resources at the end of the article.

Probably the simplest measure to prevent identity theft attack is to buy a cross-cut shredder and shred anything with identifiable information on it. This includes not only account numbers but also addresses, names and phone numbers.

Look for Opt-Out option s wherever you can, which means to avoid getting junk mail as well as companies that you have accounts with being allowed to share your information. When you get a policy update letter from any company or service you use, review it.

Check your credit card and phone bills each month carefully. Of course it’s a major concern if you see charges on a credit card that you didn’t make, but many people don’t really look over the transactions listed on their statement each month.

Watch out for change of address notifications. A thief can fill out a change of address card in an attempt to divert important mail to another address. Some companies will alert you when this happens; some won’t.

Your best offense against having your identity stolen is education, and then, diligent prevention. There are simple things you can do that aren’t expensive to protect yourself.

Tags: Identity Theft